Alter (HIATUS)
by chachachoochoo
Summary: A bus full of students meet an accident that sends them to a world they are not familiar with, what will happen to them? (Criticisms are welcome...even if there might be negative criticisms but please be honest) Feburary 9/10 chapter 1, 2 and 3 were slightly updated.. (ON HIATUS - patching up the grammar and style issues of previous chapers)
1. Chapter 1

"Jeez, why did it have to rain today?" A fair-skinned girl with light brown hair called Anna, sighed, obviously depressed by the weather conditions. it had been an exhausting school day for her, and the brewing storm that ravaged the curvy, craggy road made her spirit fall further down.  
>It was supposed to be a fine spring day, but the weather conditions did not indicate that.<br>"Well, Anna, it's the monsoon season." A boy with light brown skin and black hair seated beside her said, patting her on the head.  
>These two were among the few students who live on the outskirts of the city. They like the others on the bus were nothing special. They were just your average students with rich families living on the outskirts of the city.<p>

"Do you know when it will end Gray?" Anna asked, as she leaned towards the window.  
>"The eye of the storm already passed us so, maybe, tomorrow" Gray calmly said as he nodded his head.<br>Gray was actually guessing. He didn't study that much about meteorology, but he found it useful from time to time in a country that's likely to experience monsoons. Now that the eye of the storm has passed, the weather intensified with more heavy rain and thunderstorms.  
>"Though I think it would be better if they cancelled class then to let us go home in a storm" He said. Turning to a boy wearing a blue hooded jacket over his school uniform covering his face in the back corner of the bus, he asked "what do you think, Ash?<br>Ash didn't answer.

"look out!" A student shouted, followed by a loud honk that sounded through the road.  
>The driver, who started to doze off, was alerted by it as he detected the oncoming bus that headed towards them.<p>

"What the?!," he exclaimed.  
>With little time to react, he veered toward the side of the road to avoid the hazard.<p>

Ash noticed something odd about the bus that almost rammed the bus they are on.

The bus that passed by didn't have a driver and didn't have any other passengers aboard, except for three people.

"That's strange" He muttered to himself

"What's strange?"

Ash broke his silence as he said, "There was no one on that bus."

"What?" Everyone shouted.

Everyone was surprised to hear what Ash said. There was no way that can be true, though they thought Ash was just trying to scare them.

"No, he must be joking." A student said as he laughed.

"Come on who could have drove the bus?" one student said, as another added "Maybe you need glasses?"

The other students didn't know if he was just joking or being serious. Ash always stayed in the sidelines. Nobody knows why. He has friends, but he rarely spends time with them. Instead he spends most of his time as a loner, but there were often where times he joined the group and shared a laugh or two with them.

Ash didn't bother to go any further, but he was sure of what he saw. The bus had no one on board except for three passengers. He could not tell exactly what happened himself as the bus moved too fast but the color of what the three figures wore was what caught his eye.  
>"Purple, blue, and red."<p>

"Everybody hold on to something!" The bus driver shouted as the bus swerved uncontrollably. He managed to stabilize the bus as it headed towards the rails even though he avoided crashing into the oncoming bus, but he swerved the bus so hard that he could no longer keep it stable on the curvy, slippery road. The bus swerved to the edge of the road hitting the rails, as the rails break and the bus falls off the cliff down the rocky slope. The sound of metal and rock clashing and beating riddles the mountain side as the bus tumbles and lands at the base of the mountain on the side of its hull.

The bus' wreckage rested at base of the mountain near a forest that expands over a wide range of land with no city in sight. Inside the broken bus the students lay hurt and confused. Some students had cuts and bruises all over while some students were unconscious, Gray slowly opened his eyes. The sensation of pain welcomed him as he struggled to crawl and stand back up.

"Gu!-haaa-haaa-"

Gray almost fell down as he struggled to get up, his vision was blurry but it gradually came back to him.

"Ugh! Is everyone ok?" Gray asked after getting his bearings hoping nobody is hurt. The bus wreckage nestled at the base of the mountain the hull of the old bus was destroyed, damp and moist from the heavy rain. Gray tried to check and see if the others are ok and saw a fair skinned girl with light brown hair lying on the floor. It was Anna.

"Hey! You ok?" Gray said, rushing to her side.

"Gray? …Ugh…my head!" She said weakly, as she slowly opened her eyes.

She is alive, but hurt. She hit her head hard on one the seats when the bus rolled down the mountain.

"It's not so bad, Anna. Come on, we have to help everyone and get out of here." Gray said, as he helped her get back up, assuming she's ok. She was dizzy and lost her balance, but she held out, as the two managed to wake the others including the driver. Most of them received minor injuries but a few were mortally wounded.  
>The rain was starting to pour down as they hurried to get out of the bus. They carried with them their school bags, picked up their foldable umbrellas and made their way out of the bus towards the forest.<p>

"The rain is still pouring."

"What are we going to do?" one of the students asked.

"I'm not...feeling...wel-" Anna said weakly as she fell unconscious

Gray and the others immediately picked her up and tried to carry her.  
>"Let me take a look at her." One of the students with brown skin and black hair named Layla said, as she stepped forward to check up on Anna shaking her shoulders hoping to get a response. Anna gave a weak moan in response.<p>

"She's okay, but we need to find a place to keep her stable and treat the others." Layla assured them, placing one hand on Anna's forehead and raising her chin.  
>The others felt a chill as they walk further into the forest. The cold wind was unforgiving as it continued to howl at them. The ground was not a good place to walk on as the muddy ground started to catch them off balance and fall. Their chances of survival were getting thin.<p>

"We have no choice now; we have to look for shelter" Michael one of the students wearing thick spectacles Said, as he stepped forward to lead the group of students.

"We're really going through the forest?" A spiky haired student named Arthur said.

"We cant stay here! come on!" Michael said in response.  
>They didn't know how long they were out. The sun was setting and soon, there will be no way for them to look for a place to stay. They no option except to traverse deeper into the unexplored forest hoping to find a place to stay.<p>

"Yeah, let's go." they all said in unison.

The group made their way deep into the forest, cold, scared, and tired.

The driver remained silent during the entire trek. Gray noticed this and walked up to him.

"You okay?" He said, placing his hand on the driver's shoulders as he tried to comfort him.

"...Yeah...sorry, I've endangered you all..."

The words held a bitter feeling of regret as he said them.

"It's ok, it wasn't your fault"

The driver was clearly blaming himself for what had happened. If he had just paid more attention to the road while driving this wouldn't have happened he thought.  
>"This is my fault. I should've paid attention…"<p>

Even though Gray tried to comfort him, the old man's self depreciation was too much.  
>An awkward silence came as they continued aimlessly walking deep in the forest.<p>

"By the way, where is that silent kid?"

The driver finally spoke after looking at the group and noticed that someone was missing. The student sitting at the back corner of the bus was gone.

Gray gasped when he realized that Ash was not with them.

The group stopped and looked around to find that Ash was indeed missing.  
>"You guys go ahead. I need to go get Ash!" Gray said as he tried to run back towards the bus.<p>

"You can't! He was not there" Michael said, grabbing Gray's arm.

"What? I have to be sure Michael!"

"He was not there. Even if he was he would be dead!" Arthur smugly said.

The distance from the bus wreckage was already far off. Even though they travelled in just a single direction, the trek back would be dangerous considering how dark it has gotten. Gray couldn't tell if Michael was lying or really telling the truth. All of them rushed out of the bus as soon as the rain started pouring down, carrying the four, mortally wounded classmates with them. Michael knew it would be hard to leave a fellow classmate behind, but if any of them were to leave the group, chances are the one who left would be lost forever in the forest. Michael couldn't let Gray endanger his life.

"Gray, I'm sorry, but we have to move." Michael said as he placed his hand on Gray's shoulder.

Gray gritted his teeth in anger and disappointment. But then a voice familiar raspy voice was heard.

"HEY!"

Someone called out from a distance, somewhere in the forest.  
>Gray's eyes widened as he heard the voice from afar.<br>"Ash!?"  
>Everyone was in disbelief, the one in front of them was none other than Ash.<br>But how? Did he went ahead of the group? They thought.  
>"Come on I found a cave!" Ash shouted.<br>To Gray and the group's surprise Ash is alive, and found shelter, the others were never familiar with Ash's voice because of how he never talk as much but they had no time to ask for questions, yet the rain was pouring harder they had to look for shelter.  
>Ash leaded them to a cave somewhere in the forest. It was nothing out of the ordinary but it had a small bonfire located at the entrance of the cave.<br>"Here we can be safe for the night" Ash casually said, as he sat down near the bonfire.  
>"for the night?" one of the girls named Riza said, frustrated and tired.<br>"We have no choice" Micheal said as he tried to calm her down.  
>"We can't just spend the night here!"<br>"We can't even call for help, there's no signal here"  
>Away from the grid in the inner parts of the forest, there was no way they could calltext for help.  
>Every one of them then set up their stuff in the cave, trying to organize what little they have near the bonfire and trying to calm themselves down after the accident. Anna was able to recover after an hour or so, much to their relief.<br>Looking out from the cave's entrance Gray sat next to Ash who was sitting all by himself again, almost as if he was avoiding them.  
>What's up with him? Gray thought, wanting to know what's wrong with him he spoke.<br>"Ash, how did you find this cave? Were you not on the bus when we woke the others up?" He asked.  
>"...I -" Ash was hesitant to answer.<br>"Guys, she needs help!" One of the students wearing thick spectacled glasses named Anders cried.  
>The conversation was interrupted by Ander's cry for help while tending to the wound of another student.<br>"whats wrong?" They asked.  
>"It's Lisa." Anders said, pointing to the girl lying on her back shivering, bleeding from her abdomen. "Her wounds are severe i can barely stop the bleeding." Her wound came from a broken glass shard that pierced her stomach.<br>"I'll close the wound." Layla said as she turned to Michael. "Hand me my first aid kit," she ordered and he complied.  
>With her first aid experience, she managed to close the wound, but it wasn't enough to heal her.<br>"There," Layla said as she finished closing the wound. "That should stop the bleeding for now, but she needs intensive medical care."  
>"We can't go anywhere unless the rain slows down" Gray said, as he sat back down<br>"It doesn't look like it will stop anytime soon." Ash added.  
>There was no way they could go out in the rain into the dark forest. The chances of getting lost were extremely high; they had no choice but to wait it out as they tried to get some rest.<p>

Moments pass as the group spend the night hoping for the rain to slow down. They slept on makeshift pillows with their bags hoping that tomorrow the rain will stop.  
>Hours pass, as the rain gets stronger and louder. The group struggled to sleep. The driver could not sleep either, and chose to stand guard near the entrance of the cave while the rest of the students rest. He sat there for hours until…<br>"I'm going out to look for help, just hold on" he said as he takes one of the student's umbrella and ran.  
>"wait! stop!" one of the students called out him out but to no avail, as if the man was possessed the driver quickly took the umbrella of one of the students and ran off into the dark forest.<br>"What was up with him?" One the students named Jack said.  
>"Who knows? With luck he might find someone who could help" Another student named Peter casually said, laying his head down on top of his bag.<br>"Well, we better find some food. That way we don't have to worry about going hungry tomorrow." Michael suggested.  
>"…There has to be something at the other end of this cave. Maybe we sho-" Ash said as walked up to them.<br>"-No, its better if we just stay here and wait it out" Arthur quickly retorted.  
>"Actually Ash is right, we cant do anything if we just stay here" Gray said, seeing that it is pointless to simply wait for the rain to stop.<br>"Alright, hopefully we can find some medicinal herbs" Layla said, getting up bringing her bag with her "But a few should stay behind and tend to the wounded" she added.  
>"Ok, Michael and I will stay behind and watch over the others." Anders said.<br>The group separated into two. As fourteen students consisting of Anna, Gray, Layla, Riza, Arthur, Santos, Ash, Peter, Jack, three girls and two boys travel deep into the cave leaving the remaining two Michael and Anders to take care of Lisa and those with severe wounds.  
>They travel deep into the cave as the image of the two who chose to be left behind fade into the darkness. The cave seemed just like any ordinary cave however it seems as though it stretches for miles away as even with a flashlight there seemed to be no end to it.<br>Moments pass as they move deeper into the cave, the temperature changed to where it was no longer cold. And it seems as though the rain has stopped as they could no longer hear it pounding from the outside.  
>Arthur shouted "How far is this cave?!"<br>"Don't know but isn't it getting warmer?" Riza said.  
>"Look, a way out!"<br>Ash points out forward revealing a way out an exit. The group rushed outside but to their surprise they see another forest. It's as though the tunnel lead them deeper into the forest but there was no rain and there's sign of there being any rain as the dirt and grass was dry.  
>"Where are we?" Anna asked.<br>"Where do you think? This is just the other side of the mountain!" Peter said.  
>"Calm down. Look over there. Smoke! There must be people down that way, maybe we can ask for help" Layla said pointing towards the smoke rising most likely it was from a house or a camp.<br>"Let's go"  
>The group heads towards where the smoke is coming from, but something felt weird for the group as they felt as though they were being watched.<br>"Is something out there?" Riza said, frantically looking left and right.  
>"Something is not right here…" Anna said, as she felt a chill creep up her spine.<br>The students stop as their entire surrounding became pitch black. They tried to stick together held each other's arm or bags afraid that they would lose each other if they don't.  
>"What was that?!"<br>The sound of a bush rustling and twigs breaking could be heard from the darkness.  
>"I don't know it's completely dark!"<br>They could see nothing. They felt as though they were blind. A chill creeps up there spine giving them goosebumps as they sensed something approaching them.  
>"Look there!" Jack shouted<br>"What's that?"  
>The group spots something in front of them. The moon's light unveiled the figure from the darkness. Like a scene from a play, it revealed kidlike figure. A girl with short blond hair, black and white clothes, with red eyes and a red bow clipped on her hair.<br>"Hi! Are you people lost?" She said, her arms spread out wide and smiling. Her red eyes stared at them intently like a child meeting a friend from a faraway place  
>The group felt relieved they thought it was some kind of feral animal about to make mince meat out of them, it was only a little girl they thought<br>"Umm yeah. We are kinda lost. Are your parents around? We could use some help" Gray asked.  
>It seemed odd for them, to find a little girl out in the woods late at night. He could only think of looking for help right now. The girl did look strange to them. They knew that their country is a tropical paradise where tourists occasionally come to visit, but they didn't know a foreigner would live deep in the country's forest far away from the tourist hotspots.<br>"Is that soo~. Hmm that's too bad oh, you're not from the village?"

The little girl asks again another question. But this time with more vigor moving closer avoiding the question that was asked of her.

"No we're not from the village. My name is Gray and these are my friends we are also kinda hungry. What's your name?" Gray answered once more, this time introducing himself to her trying to act nice. He thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to scare the girl seeing as her parents might be close by and would not help them if they do anything to hurt their daughter.

"My name is Rumia hahah! You are hungry too haha" She said with a happy smile, looking at the ragged students injured from the accident.

It may seem insulting though, like a rich person looking down on a beggar. The little girl laughed at them but it was ok. She is still a child.

"So you're really not from the village?" She asked again.

Gray started to realize something. It's weird to see a little girl wander around in the forest. He thought. Even if they lived in the rural areas of their country, kids would normally just stay at home during the night, watching television or playing inside until its bedtime.

As Gray slowly stepped back, Arthur suddenly stepped forward and said "No we are not ok! Do we look okay to you?"

"Arthur!" Gray shouted, but Arthur didn't care and ignored him

"We are lost, hungry and tired."

Arthur was clearly frustrated. He was always the one who kept having things go his way. Now things have took a turn for the worse for him. He eventually became impatient and spoke out demanding help from the girl who keeps asking the same question to them.

"Is that soo~..." She responded immediately, but she did not seem scared or angry as if she did not care for what Arthur said. Then for a moment the little girl did not respond as if thinking to herself finally turns looking at them with a smile.

"Good. " She said happily. Her eyes now glowed with a sinister red glare.

"...Its dinner time~"


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur let out a bloodcurdling scream as Rumia grabbed and bit his left arm.  
>"My arm! Get off!" He frantically shouted as he punched Rumia on the head using his right arm.<br>The little girl snarled as she sank her teeth deeper into Arthur's flesh, while the others look on in horror.  
>"Help him!" Jack and Gray shouted as they rushed to help Arthur with Ray and Santos behind them.<br>"Let him go!"  
>Peter, Gray, Jack, and Santos shouted as they rush to take the girl away from Arthur. They grabbed the girl and tried to pull her away from him, but the harder they pulled the tighter her bite became as her teeth clench deep into his arm from skin to bone.<br>"Stop! Stop!" Arthur yelled desperately, as he ordered his friends to stop pulling the girl away.  
>The students tried to help Arthur, as they pulled and punched the girl. What they did only made her angry as she tore Arthur's arm off.<br>"Oh my god! His arm!" Layla cried out, as the others looked on in horror.  
>Arthur screamed even louder as blood seeped from the torn arm. Rumia then backs away from the group bone and proceeded to devour it. Gray and the others carried Arthur back to group as they hope to treat his wound.<br>"We don't have enough bandages to fix this wound!" Layla exclaimed, as she stared at the bloody limb.  
>"It hurts!" Arthur yelled again and again as if his life depended on it.<br>The group started to panic. They had no idea where they are. The little girl who greeted them with such innocence just tried to eat one of their classmates.  
>"You shouldn't be screaming so loud… the others will hear you." Rumia said, still chewing what's left of Arthur's mangled arm.<br>"There's more!?" The students exclaimed.  
><em>More? What does she mean more? Where the hell are we?<em> Gray thought, as he felt his heart beat faster and his hands started to feel numb.  
>"Crap! Crap! Let's get out of here!" Gray shouted, as he urged the others to run away.<br>"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet~" Rumia said with a smile, as blood slowly dripped from her mouth. Having finished her appetizer, Rumia turned to them, as she slowly walked towards the group.  
><em>This is bad!<em> Gray thought, He saw how quick Rumia was when she attacked Arthur. He then looked up, and saw the smoke rising from the distance.  
><em>The village is closer, if we make a break for it we can make it to safety, but there is still the problem of that girl chasing us. Someone has to distract her while the others make a run for it.<em> he thought of a plan to let the others escape while someone distracts the little monster.  
><em>but then who the hell would agree to such a plan?<em> As Gray was caught up in thought, Anna noticed someone was missing from the group.  
>"where's Ash!?" She asked.<br>They looked around and found that Ash was nowhere to be seen.  
>"He left us?" one of the girls asked.<br>"He ran for it!" one of the boys said.  
>"Run everybody! Let's get out of here" The others yelled as they ran away to escape from the little monster.<br>"Gray, run! Gray!" Anna shouted as Layla grabbed her arm and runs away with the group  
>Gray couldn't hear them. Paralyzed by fear, he couldn't move.<br>"Look at them run. Hee hee hee! ah? You're the only humans who want to play?" Rumia chuckled at the thought of playing hide and seek, excited to "play" with the three students in front of her.  
><em>What am I going to do? I can't move… I don't want to die!<em> Gray thought, He felt his heart beat faster, as he tried to move every part of his body. Scared, He was unable to utter a single word or scream for help.  
>But as he felt all hope was lost, He felt two hands pat him on the shoulder.<br>"Trying to act like a hero huh Gray?" Peter asked, as he gave Gray a large piece of wood  
>"Heh! It's not like we are making it out of here." Jack added with a light smile.<br>Both thought Gray stood his ground because he chose to sacrifice himself so that the others could escape.  
>"We can at least give the others time to escape" Jack said, as he held the wooden plank.<br>"We outnumber her! Three to one, we can beat her here!" Peter added, as he saw the odds in their favor.  
>The two students stood their ground so that the others could escape. There was fear in their eyes. They're clearly scared but despite that, they were willing to sacrifice themselves so that the others can escape in time.<br>"Yeah... I guess we can" Gray sighed out of relief.  
>"Hah! we can do it, lets go!" Jack roared with great confidence.<br>"YEAH!" They roared, as they charged towards Rumia.  
>Gray's confidence grew. He knew that their chances of fighting off a single target are high. If the girl would try to attack one of them the other would come to their side and help the other. There was no way a little girl, a monster she may be, would be able to fight back against a three on one fight. He tried to fight off his fears that signalled him to run away.<br>They charged toward the girl. They flanked her with weapons raised. The battle would be in the student's favor. They knew it, they could feel it. As soon as their wooden planks hit her on the head the battle is won.  
>But they were wrong.<br>The little girl didn't flinch. Instead, she lunged towards Jack with a childish laugh. Jack swung the plank towards Rumia's head, hoping it will be enough to stun her. Instead, it broke as it came in contact with the girl's head. It was no use. The attack didn't harm her. Jack's attack would have been enough to knock a grown man out, but Rumia was not fazed by the attack.  
>Jack couldn't defend himself, as the wooden plank broke from having struck Rumia on the head. She was seconds away from his neck. it was the end for him, as Rumia tackled him to the ground and savagely tore his throat open.<br>"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Peter shouted, as he rushed to aid Jack.  
>Jack squirmed as he struggled to speak. His mouth gushed out blood with half of his neck torn. There was no chance for him anymore.<br>Peter grunted, as he desperately tried to knock the girl out bashing the piece of wood unto her head. But instead, it angered her. She turned her attention to him, and with a chilling shriek, lunged towards him. He lost his balance and fell to the ground but managed to keep her a few inches away from his head or neck.  
>Rumia was on top of him. Peter was surprised by how heavy and strong she was. She then attempted to bite his head off but, he managed to keep her away, barely. Peter flat on the floor struggled to keep her teeth away from him, as the blood from her mouth dripped and stained his school uniform.<br>"You damn monster! Gray! Help!" Peter shouted to Gray, who stood there frozen, unable to understand why this is all happening.  
><em>How? She's just a little girl.<em> Gray stood there as he looked on in horror. He could feel his heart beat faster and louder. He could only look at Jack desperately gasping for air as blood seeped from his throat, afraid that the little girl would turn her attention to him and kill him too.  
><em>I don't want to die.<em> Gray didn't want to die but as he thought of about. "Gray! Gray!" He could hear someone call his name.  
>"Huh?"<br>"Snap out of it! Get her!" Peter yelled, slowly losing his strength.  
>Gray shivered, he tightly held the piece of wood Peter gave him to use as a weapon. His breathing became heavy, He couldn't stop glancing at Jack's dying body believing he would suffer the same fate soon. He mustered the courage to come to Peter's aid, fighting back the thoughts that were invading his mind.<br>He ran forward to help Peter who struggled to keep the girl away from him. As Gray ran towards them, Rumia turned her head and gave Gray a bloodthirsty glare. Gray stopped, as his eyes fixated its sights on the little girl's blood, red eyes that were staring directly at him.  
><em>I will die!<em> The thoughts that invaded his mind earlier came back, as it repeated endlessly in his thoughts, accompanied by the overwhelming beats of his heart.  
>At that moment, Gray did something he thought he would never do. He took a step back and hastily ran away, leaving Peter to fend for himself.<br>"You?!" Peter said, he couldn't believe what just happened, as the little girl slowly closed the distance between her teeth and Peter's skin.  
>Peter's screams echoed across the dark forest as Gray ran as fast as he could, cursing himself.<p>

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest. Anna, Layla, Riza, and Santos and the others who carried Arthur made their way towards the smoke rising somewhere in the forest.  
>"How could you just leave Gray and the others?" Anna asked.<br>"I can't just leave Arthur when that girl was clearly gonna go after him, finishing him off." Layla said. "I already stopped the bleeding and applied the tourniquet. We have to get him to a doctor."  
>Anna didn't reply but understood Layla's reason. She then continued to move and hoped they will make it safely.<br>"We have a better chance of avoiding more of those monsters if we travel by group." Santos said. "We have to keep moving."  
>"Look out!" Riza exclaimed, as she pushed the group to the right.<br>They avoided a large spider like creature that pounced towards them.  
>"What's that?" Layla asked, she quickly got back up on her feet and motioned the others to keep running.<br>"Forget it, just keep moving!" Santos said, but as he looked in front, he saw the other group being attacked by a large caterpillar like creature. "What the?"  
>"We're gonna die!" Riza said in panic.<br>The large spider monster was fast. It was only by chance that they managed to avoid it.  
>The other group of students weren't so lucky as another monster dropped down on top of them. Now it is slowly eating the group of students that it squished.<br>"Wait! Anna What are you doing?" Layla exclaimed, as she saw Anna threw rocks at the spider and ran towards the other side.  
>"Just go!" Anna shouted back, Without thinking she managed to catch the monsters attention. The spider followed her as she ran towards the forest.<br>"Anna!" Layla shouted.  
>"Come on!" Riza said. "The other monster is busy eating, we can sneak past it now."<br>Layla and the group wasted no time and moved forward. They quietly sneaked past the large caterpillar like monster devouring the rest of the group. Layla couldn't help but hold back the feeling of disgust as she caught a glimpse of one of her classmates being devoured.  
>Once the group has walked a safe distance from the monster they proceeded to run towards where the smoke was rising from.<br>"Look there! It's a house" Layla said. "Maybe they can help us."  
>"Better than staying out here, let's go!" Riza said.<br>The house was large, but it didn't feel like anyone living inside except a lit window on the second floor. Vegetation was growing on side of the walls, it was more like an abandoned house to them, but it didn't matter so long as they find shelter.  
>They knocked on the dusty wooden door.<br>"Whoa!" a girl's voice blurted inside followed by a rumble of several objects falling to the ground, catching the group off-guard. "Who's there?"  
>"We're lost, can you help us?" Layla said.<br>"hold yer horses." The voice said, more rumbling noises followed after.  
>The door opened to reveal a young girl who wore a black and white witch's outfit, she then asked. "So, whatcha want?"<br>"We were attacked by some monsters, and our friend lost his arm" Layla said "I also need something to help stop the bleeding"  
>"Ooh, that looks bad" The witch said, she eagerly stared at the missing limb and said. "I got just da right spell for that, come in."<br>"spell?" The students asked in unison as they went inside the large house.  
>"Y'all are new to this ze?" The witch asked, as she disappeared inside one of the rooms filled with all sorts of things.<br>"Y-yes. We got here through a cave somewhere in the forest." Layla said, she then told the others to rest and take care of Arthur which they did.  
>"Cave huh? guess she is gonna have a fit after hearing this hehe." The witch said, the sound of several books falling to the ground could be heard, and then the witch said "Found it!"<br>"Found what?" Layla earnestly asked.  
>"The spell!" The witch said, she then gave Layla a piece of a wood and said "Let the guy bite it and keep him steady while I fix him up."<br>Layla then let Arthur bite the piece of wood and ordered Santos to firmly hold Arthur down.  
>The witch hovered her hand above the tourniquet and soon after a blast of energy started to glow inside the tourniquet.<br>Arthur bit down the piece of wood as hard as he could as the witch casted a spell that closed the wound entirely as a new patch of skin was formed that made Arthur's arm look as if it was amputated.  
>The pain Arthur felt during the trek was gone.<br>"How did you?" The students asked in amazement.  
>What the witch did made them drop their jaws as they look at her in amazement.<br>"MAGIC!" She said with a big grin on her face, She threw the book she read to cast the spell to heal Arthur onto the pile of things on the other side of the room. She then asked. "I guess y'all heading to the village then ze?"  
>"Yes, can you take us there?" Riza asked.<br>"Wait! our friends are still somewhere in the forest maybe you could help them." Layla said.  
>"Well, right now, you and yer friend need a place to rest and the village can give just that" The witch said "I'll look for yer friends anyway I can, but y'all best head for da village following the road there."<br>"Thank you! We never got to ask you your name." Layla said  
>"Oh me? I'm the extraordinary black magician!" The witch said, she paused, took out her broom and wore her large witch hat, smiled and said. "Marisa Kirisame!"<p>

Meanwhile in the forest. Gray ran away and left behind his classmate to die.  
>"Coward!" Gray said to himself, unable to accept what he did. To leave a classmate, a friend, a fellow human being behind to die, how could he? It was the only sane option he could think of. He argued with himself as he aimlessly ran forward.<br>Soon after, Gray heard a girl scream somewhere in the forest.  
>It must be the others he thought, following the direction where the sound came from, he found another gruesome scene.<br>He saw one of his classmates being devoured by a weird creature. The creature unlike the one before, who had the appearance of a little girl, was different. It had bird's beak yet had the body of a caterpillar, and it had the wings of a bird. The creature took its time as it devoured one of Gray's classmates. The girl's screams were drowned by the sound of the creature chewing her inside its mouth. Disgusted, He tried to leave but as he took a step back, he alerted the creature who turned its attention to him.  
>He gasped as the creature tried to crawl its way towards him, flapping its wings to boost itself. Gray ran as fast as he could using the trees as way to keep the monster occupied. As he ran, a searing pain etched at his heart, he had wondered what had happened to the others when they ran.<br>They are probably dead! He thought to himself, just like the poor classmate who was eaten by the monster that is chasing him now.  
>He ran as the monster started to close in on him. Making his way out of the forest He came across a huge stairway that lead up to a hill or a mountain. The monsters suddenly busted out from the forest rolling across the pavement near the stairs as it finally caught up to him.<br>"Crap! All the way here?!" Out of frustration He yelled at the beast, as it tried to get itself back up. Gray noticed and ran up the huge stairway. He hoped there will be something up the mountain that can stop it or someplace where the beast couldn't follow. Gray looked back to see if the monster was still down but was surprised to see the monster in the air inches away, in front of him with its mouth wide open already in motion to devour him. Gray suddenly felt as if time slowed down, his surrounding became bright as day even though it's night time.  
>The sudden brightness of his surroundings was too much for him. He closed his eyes and leapt to the right. He miraculously avoided the incoming monster that was for some reason, moved slower than before. He felt the hard surface of the stone stairway as he landed on the side, accompanied by the sound of the monster, as it crashed itself onto the stone stairway.<br>_I made it!_ Not looking back, He ran up the stairway, He saw a huge torii situated at the top. Hope started to come back to him as he neared the top of the stairway, but his legs gave away as he fell back down the stairway near the monster who slowly got back up.  
>"What? What's happening?" He exclaimed, He fell down on the stone stairway. He felt as though his body was crumbling from the inside out. He couldn't understand why, as he felt the excruciating pain throbbed inside him.<br>Gray, after running for who knows how long leaving his classmate behind and from a monster who had just devoured another classmate, could only lie down and look up to the dark sky.  
><em>…Yeah... I guess this is punishment then.<em> He laid there, filled with regret for leaving his classmate behind, as the monster hovered above him as it slowly opened its mouth to devour him.  
>"Im...gonna...die...alone..." He said weakly as his vision fades. His eyes grew tired as the monster's mouth nears him.<br>But from out of nowhere four paper talismans flew by in a flash of light and stuck the creature. It wreathed in pain and backed away. But Gray was too tired, all he saw was the faint image of a person that stood near him.

Meanwhile, Somewhere deep in the forest, Anna has managed to avoid the large spider like monster as it relentlessly tried to follow her still.  
><em>It doesn't seem to pay attention to it's surroundings.<em> She thought to herself, she noticed the monster would occasionally trip or bump into something.  
>She looked at one of the large logs and proceeded to run towards them, the monster hot on her trail.<br>She managed it squeeze out of log, but the monster could not as it jammed itself halfway inside the log.  
><em>Well that got it<em> She thought in relief, she then noticed, a road on the other side of the forest and proceeded towards it.  
>As she got out of the forest, she saw the large caterpillar that attacked their group earlier fall to the ground with four paper talismans attached to it.<br>It writhed in pain as a girl wearing a red and white shrine maiden outfit waved the gohei she held in hand and made it disappear.  
>"Hey! you alright?" The shrine maiden asked.<br>"Yes, I'm fine thank you" Anna said, she bowed and then said. "I'm Anna Habara, nice to meet you."  
>"I'm Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of the Hakurei shrine." The shrine maiden said. "Judging from your clothes I'm guessing you must know the guy that fell unconscious awhile ago."<br>"Who?" Anna asked.  
>"Come with me, you'll see." Reimu said, as she motioned Anna to go up the stairway with her.<p>

Later in the morning.  
>"Hmm...ahhh..."<br>Gray could've sworn he was dead, but he could feel the warmth of the sun's rays, He felt the comfort of sleeping on a soft pillow.  
><em>A dream?<em> He thought to himself, as he slowly opened his eyes to see a familiar face looking after him.  
>"Gray? He's waking up!"<br>_That voice..._ He felt at ease to hear that voice. As if all the things that happened were just a dream and that he was just asleep at the school nurse's office.  
>"Anna?" He said, as he slowly opened his eyes<br>"Thank goodness you're ok." Anna said softly, as she gave him a cup of water and some food.  
>"Where are the others?" He asked.<br>"…I don't know, the group separated when we ran into more monsters that tried to eat us. Layla and I separated when I distracted one of them to help her escape. I managed to outrun them and found my way out of the forest and went up the stairway to this shrine" She said, as she let out a weak smile.  
>"I'm glad you're safe, but where are we?" He asked, Anna's smile comforted him but he wanted to know where they are.<br>Gray looked around, as he found himself in an unfamiliar room. The place was a large room with tatami flooring, shoji sliding doors to the edges, and the bed he was sleeping on was a futon.  
>"I think it's better if she explains it to you" Anna said, as she pointed to one of the sliding doors.<br>"She?" Gray asked, as he faced the direction Anna was pointing.  
>The sliding door slid open to reveal a girl wearing a unique Japanese shrine maiden outfit with detached sleeves.<br>Anna gently bowed to her and said. "Good morning... Hakurei, Reimu"


	3. Chapter 3

"Ah, so he's awake." Reimu said, as she placed the broom she was holding aside near the sliding door. She then bowed and said. "Good morning. I am Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of the Hakurei shrine and welcome to Gensokyo."

"Uh, Gensokyo?" Gray asked.

Didn't you tell him?" Reimu asked, as she looked at Anna with her arms crossed.

"Sorry, but I figured it would be best if you explain, Hakurei san." Anna said, as she bowed gently.

Reimu sighed and said "Just Reimu is fine. Well, where to begin?"

"Maybe you can start with where the hell are we?" Gray asked.

Reimu sighed heavily.

Anna nudged Gray on the shoulder, scowled and said. "…Be nice."

"It's ok." Reimu said. She then took a deep breath and said. "Gensokyo is a world far different from where you came from. Unlike your world where youkai are regarded as myths or legends, they exist here.

"Youkai?" Gray asked.

"Youkai are similar to monsters, Gray" Anna said. "They are like the Japanese equivalent of them."

"Not all of them are dangerous." Reimu said. "Youkai coexist with humans here."

"Then why did those 'youkai' attack us, when all we wanted was to look for food and shelter?" Gray asked.

"As I said, not all of them are dangerous. That doesn't mean every youkai you meet will greet you with open arms." Reimu said.

"Then why won't you exterminate all the dangerous ones?" Gray asked.

"My duty is to maintain the balance of Gensokyo-." Reimu said.

"-So, why aren't you? Gray exclaimed.

"Gray! She saved you." Anna said.

"If she exterminated all of them, then our friends would still be alive." Gray said

Reimu was about to lose her temper, but after she heard what Gray said, started to calm down.

"The important thing now is that both of you are safe." Reimu said.

"At least be grateful to her." Anna said.

Gray paused for a moment, but he could not bring himself to apologize to the shrine maiden.

"How did you get here?" Gray asked trying to change the subject. "Weren't you suppose to be with Layla and the others."

Reimu wasn't pleased with Gray's attitude, but tried to ignore it said. "She found her way to the shrine shortly after I saved you. I then offered her a place to stay in the shrine for the night."

"I then told Reimu what happened." Anna said.

"I was surprised when she told me how she lured the youkai away from the others." Reimu said. "It was very brave of you to risk your life like that for your friends."

"…Thank you." Anna said, as she lowered her head trying to hide her blush red face. "I had to do something."

As the shrine maiden praised Anna for her bravery, Gray sat silently with his head down.

_Coward._ Gray thought. He started to breathe and sweat heavily as the thought continuously insults him.

"Hey, you alright?" Reimu asked, She had noticed Gray acting weird. "That youkai didn't scratch you or anything did it?

"Gray, you alright?" Anna concerned for Gray's well being asked. "Please tell me you don't have a fever."

"I'm fine!" he exclaimed. "I'm just tired that's all."

"I guess eight hours of sleep isn't enough then." Reimu said.

"Do you think I can sleep well after seeing that little girl bite off my classmate's arm and tear off another's throat?!" Gray exclaimed.

"Gray…" Anna said, as she placed arm on Gray's shoulder.

"Ah, I see." Reimu said, as she folds her arms. "That was Rumia. She's a man eating youkai of darkness."

"So that's why it suddenly became dark before we met her. She can manipulate the dark." Anna said.

"Correct. She usually roams around Gensokyo looking for humans to eat." Reimu said, She looked to Gray and asked "Not many outsiders could outrun her, so how did you manage to escape?"

"I just ran." Gray quickly said.

"That's not much of an answer." Reimu said, as her brows furrowed down.

"Gray, weren't Peter and Jack with you when we left?" Anna asked.

"…I." Gray stuttered.

Just before he could say anything, a loud crash was heard from outside the room, at the back of the shrine. A girl's voice was heard shortly after.

"oof! That was fast ze!" The girl's voice exclaimed. Her footsteps could be heard as she hastily walks up to the sliding door.

"It's her again." Reimu muttered to herself.

"Whatssup Reimu!" The girl said, as she forcefully slid open the sliding door. She was a spunky girl who had blonde hair, wore black and white clothes and a witch's hat.

"Hi Marisa, could you try not crashing into the shrine next time?" Reimu said, as she gave Marisa a dull stare.

"Sorry." Marisa said, giggling. She took of her hat and brushed the back side of her head. "I wanted to get here as fast as I could to tellya something."

"Tell me what?" Reimu asked.

"A bunch of outsiders are in Gensokyo." Marisa said.

"Oh." Reimu said, she looked back to Gray and Anna then turned to face the witch and said. "You don't say?"

"What?" The witch exclaimed. She then looked over to see the two outsiders sitting in the room and said. "Hey! Their clothes look just like the ones that I met yesterday!"

"Those are our friends!" Gray and Anna said in unison when they heard what Marisa said.

"I thought as much." Marisa said, as she walked inside the room she gave the two a good look, smiled and said. "They were pretty roughed up when I found them. One of them was bleeding very badly with his arm missing and all, but I managed to patch it up with some of ma magic. The names Marisa Kirisame, nice to meet ya."

"It's a pleasure." Anna said as she bowed gently.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." Gray said.

"So those blokes, were your friends right?" Marisa asked.

"Yes, are they still there in your house?" Anna asked.

"Nope. Said they needed to find the village. So, I gave them some directions and left looking for their classmates still in the forest." Marisa said.

"You what?" Reimu exclaimed. "You didn't even think about taking them to the shrine?"

"Hey my broom can't carry more than three people!" Marisa said, as she picked up to show off her broom to the two outsiders.

"You can really fly?" Anna asked.

"Yups! Check this baby out." Marisa said, as she pulled a small reactor like device. "Cool isn't it ze?"

While Marisa was showing off her equipment to the two, Reimu smacked herself on the face with her palm.

"How far is the human village?" Gray asked.

"It's a good distance away, would probably take ya half an hour to get there on foot. I could take ya'll there if you like." Marisa said.

Just as Reimu was about to reprimand Marisa she had a thought.

"Alright." Reimu said.

"'Alright' what?" Marisa asked?

"Take them to the village to meet with their friends. While I look around the forest for the cave they used to get here." Reimu said

"To seal it?" Anna asked

"After I send you all back home, then I'll seal it." Reimu said. "In the meantime, you and your friends can probably find a place to stay in the village until it's time to go."

"Sounds like a good idea, but aren't there anymore man eating youkai in Gensokyo?" Gray asked.

"The village is protected. The youkai there are harmless." Reimu said.

"But wander too far from the village then yer bound to become youkai meat." Marisa said.

"Gray, we can finally see if our friends are ok." Anna said.

"Yeah…" Gray said. He's face looked grim as he thought. i_How can I explain it to them, that I abandoned Peter?/i_

They went out of the room and into the shrine's backyard where the witch, Marisa hovered slightly above the ground with her broom.

"Yow! Hop in." Marisa said.

Anna and Gray saddled carefully aboard the witch's broom.

"Come back to the shrine later when you're all ready to go home." Reimu said.

"Yes, Reimu san." Anna said.

"You sure this can carry three people?" Gray asked.

"You bet it will ze." Marisa said.

"Be sure to hold on tight." Reimu chuckled.

Marisa then gave Reimu a wink as they chuckled together.

"By the way, Marisa, you got anything to donate?" Reimu said, as she reached out her hand.

Marisa hummed as she reached for something inside her pocket. She found a mushroom and immediately threw the mushroom at the shrine maiden's face and laughed. She then roared as she took off into the open air, the two outsiders along with her.

The sudden burst of speed surprised the two outsiders as Anna and Gray struggled to keep themselves on the broom. They flew high up into the open sky. The witch unfazed by the strong winds tried to push them back started to steer the broom in an erratic manner.

"Fun isn't it ze?" She said after having a good laugh.

"It feels like a rollercoaster. Right, Gray?" Anna asked, as she firmly held on to Gray's waist.

"Y…Yeah" Gray said, as he hid his embarrassed face from Anna.

"What's wrong, you afraid of heights, kid?" Marisa asked.

"No, I just don't want to fall." Gray said. Unable to find a comfy position on the broom he struggled to lessen the pain on his groin.

After they ascended high up in the sky, the witch started to fly steadily, giving the two outsiders a good view of Gensokyo.

"Wow! It's so beautiful." Anna said, as she admired the lush green land.

"It is ain't it ze?" Marisa asked. "Can ya see the cave where ya'll used to get here?"

"No, sorry. I think it's somewhere in that forest there" Anna said.

"That's the forest of magic. It's probably somewhere near those mountains." Marisa said.

"Are there any more witches in Gensokyo?" Anna asked.

"Hmm, just a few." Marisa said.

As Anna and Marisa continued to talk about the places and landmarks in Gensokyo, Gray kept his eyes closed and began to think about what he should say when he meets the others.

Moments pass as the three near the vicinity of the human village.

"Alrighty, we're here!" Marisa shouted as they slowly hovered towards the village square.

Above the village square the three slowly descended near the center of the square. The noise of a busy market rang throughout the square, as youkai and humans alike, engaged in a number of activities that range from grocery shopping, goods, and a number of food vendors.

"Here's the drop point." Marisa said, as the broom hovered a few meters above ground.

Anna and Gray got out of the broom and headed down to ground level. Anna landed safely with her two feet firmly on the ground, but Gray still groggy from nearly falling asleep fell down after he failed to balance himself as he landed on the ground.

Anna immediately helped him back up and said. "You alright, Gray?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He said, as he tried to walk the pain out.

Marisa giggled for a moment and said. "Probably should have said watch your step then?"

Gray embarrassed, tried to ignore her and took a moment to look at his surroundings.

Irritated, Marisa said. "Jeez, wouldn't hurt ya to laugh for a minute."

"Thank you for the ride Kirisame san." Anna said as she waved her hands to her.

Marisa waved goodbye as she flew back into the sky.

Moments after Gray looked at Anna and asked "What's with the honorifics?"

"They're Japanese, It's only polite to address them that way. Follow me." Anna said.

"You know the way?" Gray asked as Anna walked past him.

"Yes, along the way, Marisa told me to look for a large wooden house north of the village square. That's where our friends are staying she said." Anna said as she looked around her surroundings.

"So, we're looking for a wooden house in a place full of wooden buildings?" Gray asked.

"Look Gray, so many youkai, let's go there for while." Anna said, her eyes sparkled with joy as she ran into the crowd of people that gathered on one side of the square.

"Hey wait." Gray said as he ran after her.

He tried to catch up to Anna but soon found himself lost inside the crowd as Anna was nowhere to be seen.

As He wandered aimlessly inside the crowd, he bumped into a girl with short white hair carrying a bag full of fruits and vegetables.

The pale girl didn't' say a word instead she just glared at Gray with her cold blue eyes.

Gray felt a chill curl up his spine when he saw the sheathed katana and wakizashi she carried with her.

He hastily bowed and said. "I, I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

The pale girl was surprised then bowed back and went on her way.

_iShe looks like she could've killed me if she wanted to./i _Gray thought as he broke into a cold sweat.

After she had walked a considerable distance, the pale girl looked around as if she had forgotten something.

She then turn around and said. "Myon, come on."

_iMyon, is she she talking to me?i_ Gray thought.

He then felt a chill scurry down his stomach. He look down and to his surprise saw something phasing through from his stomach.

He let out a shriek as the ball like apparition phased out of his stomach and flew towards the pale girl.

The pale girl caressed the apparition and then they went on their way.

_What was that, a ghost? _Gray thought, he's senses become numb as he clutched his chest.

Anna appeared soon after.

"Gray, I saw what happened. Are you alright? What did Youmu san say?" Anna asked.

"Who's Youmu?" Gray said.

"You don't know her? But didn't you bowed like you were greeting her?" Anna said.

"All I know is that she saw was carrying a sword and she didn't look like she was in the mood to talk. Gray said.

Anna chuckled and said. "Well, anyway, we should get going."

"Yeah, Let's go." Gray said.

The two then walked up north of the village square.

"So, how will we know we found the right house?" Gray asked.

"It will have a sign written in kanji saying Ryokan." Anna said. Then looked at Gray's confused face and said. "That means inn or a Japanese inn."

"I know that. I'm just confused why they write in Japanese but that witch and that shrine maiden could still speak in English." Gray said.

"Yes, it's weird isn't it. At least that makes it easier for you and the others to understand them." Anna said as they continue to walk down the path.

Meanwhile back in the hakurei shrine, Reimu after she had finished eating the mushroom Marisa gave her. She sat down and thought about where was the cave the outsiders used to get into Gensokyo and why.

_iHmm, the forest of magic is the only one near the shrine. I should check that out first./i_ Reimu thought.

Then a horned little girl came up to Reimu and said. "Oi Reimu, Anything new happening?"

The horned little girl then drank from the gourd she carried with her.

"Ah, Suika. Did you notice anything strange happening in the forests or mountains?" Reimu asked.

"Nope, ah." She said after she took another drink from her gourd.

"Ah well, I'm going to go check the forest of magic." Reimu said as she stood up and prepared herself for flight.

"check for what?" Suika asked.

"Some magical cave." Reimu said.

"Magical cave eh? Try checking the near the road of reconsideration after." Suika said.

"Ok thanks, Suika." Reimu said, She then pointed towards the building next to the shrine and said. "The stuff is at the storage room there."

Suika belched and said. "I know. I haven't forgotten."

Reimu chuckled and then flew off into the air and headed towards the forest of magic.

As she flew across the sky Reimu was caught up in thought. i_Find the cave, wait for the outsiders to come back to the shrine then send them home. Simple."/i_

She then became puzzled as she thought. i_How did that cave lead them into Gensokyo? Was there a hole in the barrier or hmm, what are you planning Yukari?/i_

With nothing but questions left unanswered, she quickened her flight speed as she made haste towards the forest of magic.

Meanwhile back in the human village. Gray and Anna stood in front of large and modest wooden house with a small garden beside it.

Anna let out a sigh of relief and said. "This is the place."

"Doesn't look that big, it doesn't even stand out from the rest of the building here." Gray said as he looked around his surroundings.

Anna giggled and said. "Well, let's just go inside. They're probably waiting for us."

"Yeah, let's go." Gray said.

They then proceeded inside the inn.

"Wow!" Anna said as they went inside.

On the outside, the inn looked like an ordinary wooden house, but on the inside, the interior of the building was polished from top to bottom and the furniture resembled that of modest hotel back in their world.

"Hello, good noon. I am the Receptionist, can I help you?" The girl said, she then noticed the uniform Gray and Anna wore and said. "Ah, your clothes, you two must be one of the guest's friends, correct?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Anna asked.

"The owner of this establishment told me. She told me that more of the guest's friends would arrive soon." The girl said.

"The owner, is she here?" Gray asked.

"No, I'm sorry. She rarely comes to oversee the establishment." The girl said as she gently bowed her head. She then gestured them to follow her and said. "Your friends are already having lunch. Please, come."

Anna followed the girl, but noticed Gray stayed behind.

"Gray, is everything alright? You've been acting strange ever since you woke up." Anna said, much to Gray's dismay.

Gray forced a fake laugh, smile and said "Ah, it's nothing. My legs just hurt from all the walking. Go on without me, they're probably waiting."

"Alright." Anna said as she continued to follow the receptionist. But before she went around the corner of the hall, she said. "Gray, it's alright."

"What?" Gray said as he turned to look at Anna, but she was no longer there.

He then sat down as he let out a resigned sigh and said to himself. "What am I going to do?"

He then fell to the floor, as he felt a blunt force stroked him on the face.

As He tried to get himself back up, he was hit by another stroke followed by another and another.

He then felt a strong force that knocked him to the wall.

He felt the searing pain of the strikes as his back laid next to the wall.

He could hear the sound of footsteps as it approached him, a voice was heard.

"Get up!" The voice said.

_iThat voice./i _Gray thought as he slowly looked up to find a familiar face.

Gray coughed and said "Peter?"

And there Peter was. His body covered in bandages, stood in front of Gray as he looked at him with hateful eyes

Peter then prepared to strike another blow and said. "Get up, you damn coward."


	4. Chapter 4

Peter stood there looking at Gray with hateful eyes, Most of his body is covered in bandages as he raises his fist to strike at Gray who was struck down by his surprise attack.

"STOP!"

A distant cry was heard from the other side of the room near the dining area.

Anna, Riza, Layla, Santos and Arthur rushed as soon as they heard the sound that was coming out from the living room .

"...tch" Peter gritted his teeth as he lowers his stance.

"...ok.." he said still filled with hate as he distances himself away from Gray

Riza, Layla and Santos rushed to Gray checking if he is alright, or if there is any severe damage he took from the beating.

"Gray you alright?"

"-g, yeah" Gray said weakly as he fumbles trying to get up.

Riza and Santos then help him get up and carries him to one of the wooden chairs in the living room.

"What was that all about?" Anna said looking at Peter clearly angry by what he just did to Gray

"keh, that coward should have at least stood his ground." Peter's bitter words came out as he recalls the event that happened last night.

"..."

Anna immediately knew what Peter meant, but she could not argue with him given the fact that she ran as well along with the others.

She was lucky to be even alive, the group she went with had an encounter with another man eating youkai that was when she separated herself from them running away she was no different from the others.

"..im sorry..." Anna lowers her head as she apologizes to Peter

She had nothing to say, she couldn't say anything that will erase Peter's anger, it was foolish for him and Jack to even stand up to the man eating youkai Rumia but it was also admirable to her.

".!?" Peter was surprised he expected her to find some sort of retort trying to prove him wrong instead Anna apologizes to him hoping that he will forgive Gray.

This angered him even more but he had no reason to lash out to her as well, unable to bear with the anger that was swirling in him he hurried his way out of the house.

"Wait!" Anna tried to stop him but her words were ignored as Peter leaves.

She couldn't help but feel powerless towards Peter's anger, she was no better than all the others who ran, who wouldn't run from something like that she thought as the memories of the incident last night start to resurface.

"no, i must stay strong" she thought to herself, Anna shook her head trying to remove that feeling of helplessness. "Reimu probably found the cave we came from by now, at the very least i hope she will let us stay for awhile" her thought of going home worried her much like a child who wanted to stay in an amusement park during their first visit Anna wanted to look at the places Marisa showed her.

"Anna!" a voice came from the dining area.

"come on its lunch time!" it was Riza, one the classmates that survived the incident last night

Anna realized she doze off in thought for a while then as after the others checked to see if Gray was alright they then went back to the dining area leaving Anna to deal with Peter awhile ago

"ahh, ok Im coming" she said with a light smile as she joins the rest of the group eating lunch.

* * *

><p>Deep in the forest far from the human village and a little farther from the Hakurei shrine near a large mountain range that looks as though it's more like a large wall or a dam as beyond the wide mounds of jagged rock and peaks lies a vast river stretching far and wide.<p>

A girl wearing a unique red and white shrine maiden outfit with detached sleeves and a bow accessory Reimu Hakurei flies towards the edge of the forest near the mountain ranges.

"i guess this the spot.." she muttered to herself as she hovers herself down to ground level

Placing herself firmly on the ground she takes a moment to check her surroundings.

"-!?" Reimu took a step back distancing herself from a few patches of mushrooms.

"They went down this path, then when they arrived..." she muttered to herself as she steers clear of the mushroom and traces the steps the students took when they arrived to Gensokyo.

These mushrooms were not edible nor would they be safe to be nearby, they were poisonous and can also can hallucinations, but even though they are dangerous the hallucinogenic properties of the mushrooms can help increase magical potions or powers.

This was one of the reasons why this was called the forest of magic, in addition to the dangerous mushrooms that can be toxic to humans and can induce hallucinations to them if ever they breathe its noxious gas, there are also witch's that live somewhere in here secluded from the village one of them is The Ordinary Black Magician Marisa Kirisame.

A faint smile curled on her face as Reimu remembers the mushroom Marisa gave her as a snack – I guess I should thank her for not giving me a poisoned one – it was a dark joke but Reimu found some amusement in thinking about it.

"Here it is.." Reimu says as she stands in front of a cave near one the mountains that act as a border on the edge of the Forest of magic.

She waved her gohei in a circular motion, with a flash of light an orb which had the symbol of yin and yang was formed and completed as she finished the circular motions.

The yin-yang orb hovered near Reimu as she traversed deep inside the cave from which no light could reach, the orb slowly glowed as she delved deeper and deeper inside the seemingly endless cave.

"haaa- how long is this cave!?" She said, exasperated, Echoes repeated what she said about 4 times she didn't know how far the cave could extend.

Reimu finally stops walking as she feels a change in the air , the yin-yang orb that hovered in front of her which managed to light the path ahead of her can no longer reveal the path ahead of her.

Like a black hole from which no light could escape what stood in front of Reimu was utter darkness .

"tch!.. This is hers alright..." she muttered to herself, dejected, she knew who was responsible for this, but that wasn't the reason she was sad.

She turns her back from the void like hole that was in front of her as she makes her way out of the cave and back to the Hakyrei shrine.

The portal like hole which belonged to the youkai Yukari Yakumo, stood there deep in the cave forever opened, one can travel through the cave and not tell when they crossed the portal leading to the outside world or to Gensokyo unless they are aware or more alert of that fact.

Reimu had thought the reason Gray, Anna and their friends were in Gensokyo was because Yukari "gapped" them into Gensokyo as another means for her entertainment.

Yukari was known for being able to go to the outside world anytime with her power to manipulate borders using her gaps which serve as portals between two places, she would occasionally gap people who would then cause some trouble on Gensokyo due to their selfish impulses.

This was a different case, however, Gray, Anna and their classmates were not gapped willingly it didn't matter how many they were but the purpose for them coming to Gensokyo was what irked Reimu, they were sent to Gensokyo as food, much like the Road of Reconsideration which is near the Forest of Magic there is a blurred part of the border where humans from the outside world will accidentally travel to Gensokyo and it is also where another man eating youkai will wait for them.

Spirited away is what they were called, outsiders who are carried away by some mysterious force like, magic, there is a rule in Gensokyo wherein no youkai was allowed to eat a human residing in the human village, that rule was meant to keep the balance in Gensokyo that contrasted to how the outside world functions, the outside world where Gray and Anna came from is dominated by humans with their use of science and other technological advances youkai and myths were already being dismissed as mere tales meant for children, in Gensokyo however youkai dominate the land and there are only a handful of humans that reside in Gensokyo but youkai must eat in order survive even if they were to live for a 100 years or more they must feed at some rare times, that is also how Yukari's gaps work, the gaps are placed in the darkest or uninhabitable places in the outside world where no one could tell if you had disappeared, the outsider would then unknowingly wander into Gensokyo to be eaten by some of the youkai waiting for them.

"Kuh! I don't want to deal with this... Im going back home" Reimu said in frustration, there was nothing she could do for them, they were meant to be food, but they were lucky enough to survive, now that they live and are somewhere in Gensokyo they might threaten the balance if they learn how to unlock their powers.

Reimu closed her eyes as she tries to calm herself down while flying back to the Hakurei Shrine.

"If they plan on going back home then i will help them but if they decide to stay..." Reimu cuts her thoughts as she clears her mind hoping that the students will make the right choice.

* * *

><p>Back in the human village a man filled with hate wanders aimlessly around the village trying to clear his mind, "we outnumbered that girl, why did they run!?" still thinking about the incident Peter thought that their chances of winning the fight against the man eating youkai Rumia were supposedly high for them.<p>

He was angry, a person as stubborn as him could only think about the past endlessly filling himself with more hate and regret, at some point he would feel happy to be alive at least along with his classmates, but he couldn't let that anger go and the scene of Gray leaving him to die kept replaying across his thoughts that he can't help but clench his fist and grit his teeth each time he thinks about it.

-bump-

"oomf!"

With his constant brooding Peter Cruz paid no attention to where he was going and accidentally bumped into someone.

"Byakuren sama, are you ok?" Peter could hear a voice near the person he just bumped into but he could not tell who it was as he kept his head down hoping the person he bumped into did not get angry.

This was not the place he was born into, he did not know how people would react if they would get mad, from what he could tell most of the people that lived in the village were strong youkai hunters, he can still remember the hunters from the village that came to save him in time from the youkai Rumia, he felt indebted to them and hold them in high regard because of this.

"I—I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where i was going." Peter said, lowering his head, trying to avoid looking at the people in front of him.

"You should watch where you're going mo—"

"-its ok Shou chan"

"..Byakuren sama.." the gentle voice dismisses the harsh one that was directed towards Peter.

A woman with long light brown, multicoloured, wavy hair stood up in front of Peter, she gave a feeling of a warm and gentle person, Peter looked at her in awe as if he was looking at a saint, she was no ordinary woman he usually saw back in their world, but then so was every other person he saw in Gensokyo, she looks as if her age is about twenty years of age but she gives off a feeling of an elder, at a glance she looks like a simple pious woman.

Byakuren Hijiri, the chief priest of the Myouren temple, situated near the human village, she was in the middle of preaching or gathering more followers to her faith until Peter inadvertently bumped into her.

Beside her was a high priest of the Myouren temple Shou Toromaru, from a glance she did not seem like an ordinary human, she was not a human to begin with she is actually youkai but from the pattern of her clothing she appears to have an affiliation with a tiger, she kept her calm composure as soon as Byakuren assured her she was ok.

"you poor thing, great anger dwells within you.." Byakuren said looking at Peter

"kuh!?.." Peter was surprised to hear her say, "how could she know?" he thought he was already stressed as it it but with this he got so confused that he could not even think of a comeback or to pick himself back up to run away.

He slowly raised his head gathering the strength to at least tell her to back off but what he saw caught him by surprise.

Byakuren, much to Shous suprise extends her hand to Peter.

"Byakuren sama? What are you doing?" Shou said in response to Byakuren's gesture to the human who bumped into her earlier.

"If you wish, I can help you.." Byakuren said with a sincere smile she could feel Peter's anger and genuinely wished to help him let go of it if he was willing to.

"..ku-!?.. w-whhy would you be willing to help me?" Peter said with his voice trembling unable to understand the woman's kindness to him, an outsider.

Byakuren did not say anything instead she just gave Peter a sincere smile while holding her hand out to him.

She of all people should know why outsiders are not to be trusted, there were many times back in the past of how outsider flaunted their abilities for their own selfish reasons, but even while knowing this she still wanted to help him, she could feel his anger towards youkai, specifically the youkai Rumia and to an extent a fellow outsider, his classmate Gray Cutter.

Peter accepted her offer, as he places his life on her hands hoping that he can find meaning to her kindness.

"Shou chan, i think its time we go back to the temple"

"Yes Byakuren sama" the two girls exchanged a few words as Byakuren holds Peter's hand tightly

"agg—whats the? Whoooaaah!"

"ah you are not used to flying yet, im sorry but please hold on"

Peter wrapped his arms around Byakuren's waist as soon as his feet started to float above the ground

how do these guys fly?- Peter said in his thoughts panicking while holding on to Byakuren's waist as if his life depended on it.

"Byakuren sama" are you sure about this?" The woman named Shou said as she flies near Byakuren who is holding Peter firmly near her waist, she felt worried that the outsider will be a danger to them if Byakuren brings him to the temple.

"it will be alright Shou" she said without hesitation as they fly towards the Myouren temple

Shou was worried that Byakuren's kindness will get the better of her, she has always been kind to both humans and youkai which is also the reason why she got into trouble and was sealed away years ago, The humans years ago thought she was some kind of demon, coercing and helping youkai instead of exterminating them, thinking she was a demon in disguise they sealed her away.

Her kindness paid her back in the end, as Shou and other youkai that Byakuren helped in the past combined their efforts to unseal her along with the help of Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame and Sanae Kochiya.

"..."

Shou kept quiet telling herself that she must trust Byakuren's judgement, as they finally arrive at the Myouren temple.

They hovered down landing firmly on the temples stone path.

Peter frantic to touch land again jumped back the moment he felt he was at least a meter from the ground.

"wew! That was sort of fun" he said trying to hide his fears from them, Peter was scared of falling down and flying isn't exactly what could be called normal in the real world.

"fufu you will get used to it" Byakuren said covering her laugh with her hand "this way if you will." She then shows Peter the way to the temple.

The Myouren temple, it was situated near the outskirts of the human village, unlike what he saw in the human village where most of it appears to be an old fashioned eastern village the temple was extravagant with stone pathways leading to its main door and the stair leading up to the temple, it was large situated atop platform like structures made from stone and with a garden.

"-!?" to Peter's surprise there were a youkai situated in the temple courtyard.

"you have nothing to fear, they are devoted to not seek violence" Byakuren said whispering to Peter but even then it was not enough to lower his tense feelings.

The encounter with Rumia last night was traumatic for him, he almost died, he would have died if it were not for the youkai hunters who made it in time, the bandages he wore was proof for him that youkai are dangerous but he couldn't say anything to her.

From a distance near the shrubs of the temples garden one of the youkai could a faint presence of fear and anger, this feeling excited him, he had thought he would not get this kind of sensation after devoting himself to the Myouren temple but the youkai did, he looks at the stone pathway near the grand stairway that leads to the temple.

*a human!?* he said in his thoughts as a great sensation of hunger starts to overwhelm him "haaa-, haaa- graaa-!" unable to control his urge he charges toward the human Byakuren and Shou is escorting, the youkai became a mad beast and obeyed his basic desire to feed.

"Byakuren sama! Look out!" Shou who lingered behind to take a look at the temple's gardens calls out to Byakuren who is in the way of the mad youkai charging towards Peter.

*shit!* Peter said in his thoughts as he sees the youkai getting closer to him but then.

*stomp*

*pow*

Byakuren stomped the ground and attacked the charging youkai, delivering her elbow at the youkais abdomen sending it flying towards the temple courtyard walls.

*whoa! what kind of girl is she?* Peter said standing perfectly still trying to understand how the woman was able to repel the youkai.

"..how repulsive..." Byakuren said her voice containing bits of sadness, "Ichirin!"

"yes?, Byakuren sama" a girl carrying an largering around wearing a nun's headdress came forward along with an unusual purple coloured cloud floating near her.

"please take this youkai away, it seems he has fallen"

"Yes! Byakuren sama.. Unzan!" the girl wearing a nun's headdress named Ichirin complied and started talking to the purple cloud

"Yes!"

Peter was surprised as he heard the purple cloud talk in a booming voice as its clouds start to form a pair of hands and lifts the unconscious youkai and carries it out of the temple courtyard.

"I am very sorry, the youkai here truly do wish avoid hurting humans" Byakuren said lowering her head apologizing to Peter after seeing Ichirin and Unzan off.

Byakuren Hijiri will accept taking in Youkai and humans to join her faith, her reputation among youkai has managed to earn her plenty of followers but its also because of that her followers are composed mostly of youkais instead of human, because of her affiliation with youkai many humans are afraid to join despite her genuine desire to seek harmonious relations between the two species. Many youkai that do join genuinely wish not to seek violence and there have been those who join her to avoid conflict with other humans.

Peter did not care if they came he hated youkai, the death of his friend jack from last night is what cemented it for him, but he saw an opportunity to learn how to fight back.

"please.. teach me!" Peter said as he bowed in front of Byakuren "i want to know how to fight back, i don't want to be a weakling who cant fight for himself" he pleaded to her to teach him how to fight, the image of Jack dying and being unable to fight back the man eating youkai last night filled his thoughts as he pleaded.

"I cannot" she replied immediately, she could feel Peter's hate and worries how that will cloud his judgement, there was a time she had used her powers for personal gain, but in due time she learned how to use her powers so that it could benefit others.

"..."

*this human* she thought to herself *for the same selfish reason he wants to learn how to fight*

"that is enough!, Byakuren sama said no" Shou spoke out as she takes Peter away

"no, wait!" Byauren spoke as Shou forcibly tries to get Peter out of the courtyard, "i will train you, but on two conditions: you must devote yourself to our faith and you must not seek to harm anyone, human or youkai unless it is necessary"

*is she serious? What good would it do if you teach me but forbid me to test them on someone?* Peter was annoyed he wanted to learn from her because he wanted to get his revenge on the man eating youkai Rumia and Gray his classmate that abandoned him.

*kuh!, she will never teach me if i say no, but as long as she doesn't know i think it will work* he thought to himself as he thought of a way to get her to teach him how to fight like "Alright i promise"

"very good, before we begin you must learn the teachings of Buddhism"

*kuh this is gonna be rich* Peter said in his thoughts as Byakuren starts teaching him about the five precepts

* * *

><p>Its still raining, it is still pouring, each day it gets heavier, trees sway haplessly at the mercy of the wind, branches break and litter the ground, the haunting howls of the wind fill the cave with an uneasy chill.<p>

"those guys are taking to long!"

"calm down Micheal, it must be a deep cave"

"Are you fu**ing serious!?"

"just calm down and be quiet, you might wake Lisa and the others" Russel said while rubbing his hands near the bonfire

"too late, you already woke me up!" coming from the side of the cave Lisa woke up because of Micheal's rambling.

"sorry!"

"sorry!"

"quiet you two" the girl named Lisa shuts them up as she slowly gets herself up,.

The wound on her stomach which was stitched up by Layla managed to help her but if things don't get better she will probably die.

"whoa!, take it easy" Micheal said as he rushes to help Lisa get up.

"ssshh you two, i hear something" Russel interrupts them as he hears footsteps coming from inside the cave.

"their back?"

"their back?"

Micheal and Lisa said in unison as they run to look deep in the cave expecting to see the others.

"wait, isn't that?"

The figure looms slowly from the darkness revealing only one person.

"wait? Aren't you?"

"where are the others?"

Without answering their questions the dark figure snapped his fingers.

*PUNTURE*

"g-!" Russel grunted as he felt something red and hot somewhere in his abdomen, "—g!" what he saw was something he never thought he would ever see, a dark tendril like tentacle pierced right through him.

"RUSSEL!"

"RUSSEL!"

Micheal and Lisa could only look at him in shock

"don't worry you will be joining him" the dark figure said mockingly

From the darkness inside the cave patches of eyes started appearing and opening staring at the helpless student

"ru—"

*PUNCTURE*

Micheal's attempt to flee was cut short as another dark tendril came out from the darkness at frightening speed aimed piercing his through, with each tendril came another and another as a massacre ensues, tendrils coming from every dark part of the cave spawned and pierced every single student that was there.

"Micheal!" as Lisa screams the massive wave of tendrils pushed her aside.

Blood splatters everywhere as the figure was not content with simply killing them but to eviscerate every last single one of the students to pieces.

The rocky floor starts to dye the colour red as blood splatters and piles up, pieces of skin and bone scatter everywhere as the dark tendrils dance inside the cave using the six students that were left behind as a ragdoll with each swing the bodies became smaller and smaller.

Pieces of skin, entrails scattered, bloody bones with skin still attached to them, eviscerated heads that can no longer be identified as something that was once human were all that's left, and weeping in the corner of the mound of rock cowering away from the carnage was Lisa.

*...he didn't see me.. i have to get away* she thought to herself as she can see the sun's light shining signifying the storms end.

"ugg-!"

She could no longer run, she could not feel her legs, the nerves that let's her control her legs are precisely severed,

"hic...hic" Lisa started to cry

she could not crawl away, her right arm and her left leg were forcibly taken.

"hic...why?." Lisa asks while sobbing painfully with no hope left she starts to lose her strength.

she will die there's no doubt about that, she was lucky enough not to go in shock given how her arm and leg were forcibly taken but from the sadistic smile the dark figure has looking at her, she will wish she was dead by now.

"aaaahh...AAAAHHHH!" the dark tendrils wraps itself around her right leg as it forcibly pulls her back

"kehehe, that was no fun... but i bet you can entertain me a little more i didn't save you for last without a reason.." the dark figure laughs as he set his sights on the last student inside the cave, Lisa

"NOOOO! HELP MEEE-!" Lisa cries for help as she is dragged deep into the cave by the shadowy tendrils.

* * *

><p>A quiet night enters the land of Gensokyo the stars glitter and shimmer across the vast clear dark blue sky.<p>

The human village activities begins to subside as the evening begins, the residents take up their post in guarding the village perimeters and the children sleep soundly inside their homes.

On the northern section of the village where the large house the outsiders are currently lodged two of the outsiders a girl and a boy spend a moment near the balconies overlooking the neighbourhood.

"you know Gray, this place is kind of beautiful" The girl said gently leaning leisurely on the rails next to the boy looking over the village.

"yeah, if only there weren't any more of those that want to eat us" Gray said in response, half jokingly, he had never been in a place where electrical goods and appliance were not present to make things comfortable, he had always been accustomed to being able to relax on an air conditioned on a comfy bed watching tv or doing his homework but despite the inconveniences and the bits of culture shock he experienced while in Gensokyo, he found the place beautiful too, the fresh clean air uncorrupted by pollution, the sound of birds chirping, the absence of motor vehicles sounding their horns it was a bit tempting for him to forget going back to the real world but-

"we still need to get back home Anna, our parents are probably worried about us.." he still wishes to return home, it was hard for one to just abandon their family and everything they are accustomed to.

"yeah, I know, but Peter is still missing"

"he hasn't come back yet?"

"not since this morning after—"

"—I see..." Gray stopping her from finishing began to sink in a gloomy state as he continues to blame himself; Anna concerned tries to comfort him.

"it's ok now, Reimu probably found the cave we used to get hear"

"but—what about the others who can't go home?, they are dead because of me"

"You can't blame yourself for something that you had no control over, nobody could have predicted what would have happened, at the very least we are still here"

Anna said with gentle voice, she did the best she could to counter Gray's self deprecating words, it has always been that way for them, back then Gray would always go out of his way to help others but whenever he fails or falls short on his promises he would sink in a depressive state, Anna would always be there to cheer him up. She admired his desire to help others, but she is usually the person he looks up to for advice when something is bothering him and for answers during tests, they grew up together and overtime she began treating more of a brother than just a friend.

stop acting like that, be strong—she wished she could say this to him, she then looks up into the night sky but as she was left with nothing more to say Gray utters a weak thank you to her.

"Thanks Anna..."

Gray has always been grateful to Anna, being by his side whenever he is down, helping him get back up on his feet, even until now, she was like a sister to him but he never had a female relative the word *sister* had a different meaning for him, Anna has always been there for him, her gentleness, faith and virtue, even the way she talks appears so beautiful to him.

"hey you two!"

"oh, Layla, any news?...Gray!"

"...huh? eh?"

Layla came barging from the door about to tell them something, Gray for the moment was lost in thought as he stared blankly into space as Anna snaps back his attention.

"nah! We still haven't found him, i did manage to gather some herbs and got some medicine from a girl with... bunny ears hehe" Layla said showing them her bag filled with herbs and bottles.

The girl with bunny ears came across Layla asking around the village for medicine supplies, when the girl knew what Layla was looking for she approached her and offered to help her.

"naturally i was like uuuu~~ those ears!" Layla letting out a high pitched squeal as she recalls what took place.

"She was a little shy though, she kept avoiding eye contact with me, what was her name? Hmm Raisin? Haha noo~l, hmm ahh i remember, Reisen"

That name didn't ring a bell to Gray and Anna, they stayed inside the house for the whole day, Gray didn't have a choice seeing as he took a beating from Peter when he arrived, both of them just nodded and smiled as Layla continued.

"Anyway, here you go" she hands the bag full of medicine supplies to Gray

"huh? Why me?"

"because you are the only one of us who knows where the Hakurei shrine is, and I need Anna to help me with something." Layla says as she drags Gray out of the house

Anna did not object to what Layla said, she was curious to what Layla wanted to tell her, still, it was cruel of her to just let Gray go all the way back to Reimu all alone at night especially considering what could be waiting for him outside the village, but she remembered what Marisa told her on their way to the village.

"Gray if you go to the history school at the eastern section of the city, there might be somebody who could help you just go south until you reach the village square then turn left."

"oh and if you see buckets or wells don't go near them" Layla added

"why? Am i going to lose my head if i do?"

"..."

Gray retorted in a mocking manner but as he said those words Layla gave a grim expression

Tch! Is everything trying kill us? – Gray said in his thoughts as he makes his way downstairs to get out of the house, but as he nears the door leading outside in the first floor of the house, a rope suddenly sprung up and sent Gray dropping to the floor on his face

"ouch" he hit the floor hard but he lessened the impact of the fall by using his hands upon reflex to land firmly on the floor, as he lets out a sigh of relief he could a little girl laughing behind one of the chairs

"heeheehee"

"that kid!"

The child has always been playing tricks on everyone in the mansion, the others don't mind because most of her tricks are rather harmless, they even went as far as to give her a name, Lily.

That was a weird name to give a Japanese looking child, there was no doubt about her origin, a child wearing a kimono, an old fashioned bobbed haircut with flawless straight hair, according to what Layla and the others said she was already inside when they first got in almost as though she was the caretaker, when they asked the villagers who was she, they merely said she was a Zashiki-warashi, they bring good luck and fortune.

Fortune huh? – Gray scoffs at the idea of them bringing fortune considering how she endlessly played tricks on them the entire day "hey! What's the big idea?" Gray said calling the girl out on her tricks.

"hehehe where are you going oni-san" came her reply as she skipped happily near Gray

Oni-san - The little girl they named Lily frightened him, there was no denying her appearance she looks exactly like what an innocent little girl would look like but like a replay from last night he can see Rumia moving closer to him asking him if he was from the village, Gray couldn't help but back away from the little girl Lily out of fear.

"oni-san you're not leaving are you? I want to play~"

oni san she called him, Gensokyo is no doubt Japanese, Japanese culture, Japanese names, Anna's ethnic root, he never got used to using honorific like chan, san, kun, sama, back then in the real world during lunch break Anna would occasionally call him kun but it bore no meaning to him seeing it as just her playful gestures.

"ahh, I'm just going out for awhile *oni san* will be back" Gray said as he pats Lily on the head, that was the first time he ever used an honorific.

"okay~, i will be waiting~" The little girl says cheerfully as she picks up the rope she used to trip Gray and ran off to the storage room.

Gray was thankful to the fact that she didn't do anything that borders on eating them, the pranks Lily keeps pulling off grew on him, even if it was just for a day, the little girl called Lily treated them like how a child would treat his/her family.

Heh time to get going Micheal and Russel are probably thinking we died or something – thinking stupid joke Gray let out a faint smile as he leaves the house and out into the village.

The atmosphere of the village is very different at night, the howls of the wind can be heard as soon as he exits the house, a cold chill runs up his spine when he sees the deserted path leading to the village square over the horizon in front of him is nothing but a dark end with faint glitters of light on the far end, there were no signs of life, the villagers are sleeping in their homes and the harmless youkai who were selling goods, or just playing pranks on humans are nowhere to be seen.

"Sigh. Ok, south and then east in the village square" repeating Anna's directions so that he would not forget, he musters the strength to move forward.

Each step he makes moving across the dark quiet village fills him with dread as he looks left and right the fear inside builds up with each passing moment, following Layla's advice he promptly avoided getting near any bucket or wells he came across, the cold air gives him the chills, the mist continues to slightly obscure his vision as his mind frantically thinks of every possible thing that could come out and eat him right then and there.

In addition to all his fears popping up in his mind, there is also a stinging feeling of being watched, no matter where how much he looked there is nothing there nor is there anybody looking at him, all he could see was the mist, he wanders forward but soon Gray completely forgot where he was, was he still at the northern residential area of the village or at the square?.

"tch! This mist!" Gray said exasperated, he didn't expect to be lost in a simple village, but the mist began to grow denser as each minutes pass.

He continues moving forward trying to find his way across the dense mist, but stops as he hears something from out of nowhere, the sound was eerie, it was as if something was slowly opening and closing between those he could he dozens of things screeching or itching in the distance but it slowly disappears as he hears the eerie sound of something closing, Gray looks around as he hears footsteps coming from his right, before he knew it a voice calls out to him from where the footsteps were heard.

"My, isn't it a little too early for you to take night walks?"

The mist starts to dissipate as lanterns start to light up revealing a woman sitting on a wooden bench.

"There, that's better, i trust you are enjoying your stay in Gensokyo Gray kun?" the woman asked, her dark golden eyes stares sharply at him.

As Gray looks around the now lit area he realizes he is already at the village square, now he only needs to turn left, but the woman's sharp stare could not be ignored

"...who are you?"

Gray has never seen nor has he met this woman before, yet she knows who he is.

"Ahh, where are my manners my name is Yakumo, Yukari"

Yakumo, Yukari, Gray felt a chill as she said her name, there was nothing ordinary about her, from her purple chinese-style tabard worn over a pale pink dress, to her cold dark golden eyes, an otherworldly aura emanated from her.

She is probably a youkai – that was Gray's deduction but it already seems obvious from the start, even as she just sat there, the lanterns around the village square lit up, there was no doubt about it but she was different, unlike the ones he saw last night and today who all look like girls below the ages of twenty or fourteen she had the appearance of a woman in her mid twenties

"It is rather admirable you and your classmates made it this far considering what you all went through last night" although her tone was soft there was an implicit meaning outside of it, mocking Gray and his classmates.

"you!?, how did you know about that?"

"fufufu, don't you remember the *bus* that almost crashed with the one you were all on?"

"-!?"

"I did this, It was a hassle but it turned out well enough fufufu"

Without feeling remorse or pity Yukari chuckles at Grays question as she proudly declares it was her doing.

"You and your friends were supposed to be youkai meat by now, how fortunate you all must be, to have made it safely to the human village."

"..."

Gray was grinding his teeth because he could not vent his anger nor could say anything against her out of fear that if he makes any rash decision he will probably be killed right on the spot, he could feel the woman's chilling aura emanate throughout the village square as if a crowd of eyes were staring at him.

"A pity, but it doesn't matter; sooner or later you and your friends will discover them in no time"

"Discover what?"

"Your powers..."

"What? How?"

Powers? Is she serious? – Gray scoffed at the idea of him having powers, but the thought excited him, if he had power he can actually be able to protect people, he and his friends won't have to be afraid of any man eating youkai, and He won't be forced to run away out of fear, just as he was pondering about the possibilities of what he could do with his powers the woman stood up as a portal open slowly opens up from out nowhere near her, the air began to fluctuate as a huge gust of wind blows from the portal looking at the portal was like looking up into space, it had eyes staring blankly at him, each end of the portal had a red ribbon tied to it much like the ones on her hair

"Like I said, you will discover them soon enough then the real fun will begin.." she said as she moves inside the portal now slowly closing.

"-?"

The portal vanished as soon as it closed like a wormhole to another dimension the air began to calm down, but just Gray was about to give out a sigh of relief that the woman named Yukari has left, he felt a change in the wind behind him, a thousand little screeches accompanied it as if a there was a swarm of insects behind him then the voice of Yukari whispered to him as she peeks out from the portal that suddenly appeared behind Gray.

"In the meantime, try to focus on staying alive, if you can hehehe."

"-g!?"

Gray turned around as soon as quickly as he could but there was nobody there.

"tch! I got no time for this" Gray said as he remembered he has to go back to the real world and give the medical supplies to Micheal and Russel, he gave out a sigh as he moves to the eastern part of the village.

"There, I think that's the school"

The building was rather small it had the same feel as the house he and the others were staying at, a giant signboard near the two wooden door entrance was written in kanji there was no way he could understand the writings but deduced that this is the school, following Anna's directions and being the only building to have a giant signboard this has to be the one.

Gray then opens the door but as he tries to go inside to check if anyone is there, suddenly a woman's voice spoke from behind him.

"Usually people knock before they enter."

"I-Im sorry I didn't mean to, I needed help"

"Hmm? I was expecting you to be a thief"

The woman clad in a dark blue dress with short white sleeves was surprised to see Gray apologize to her, she had thought Gray was some lowly thief trying to steal something from inside the school.

"Very well, then what are you here for?" she asks intently

"I'm looking for someone who can help me reach the Hakurei shrine"

"Ahhh, I see"

Looking at Gray's clothes as if she was scanning something she finally understood why he wishes to go to the Hakurei shrine.

"You must be one of the outsiders then?"

"Yes..my name is Gray Cutter I need to get this supplies back to my friends in the real world"

"i see, very well come with me, my name is Keine Kamishirasawa."

Keine Kamishirasawa, at a glance Gray could tell she was not a normal human, from her silver coloured long hair to her clothes, much like Yukari she had a certain aura that emanated around her, but unlike Yukari, hers was more of a warm one.

As she bowed to Gray who also bowed in turn they set off to the Hakurei shrine.

The way towards the Hakurei shrine was dark and treacherous during the night, no normal human would dare travel alone without a group, what scared Gray the most was the chances of coming across Rumia the man eating youkai of darkness, the one who took Arthur's arm and took the life of one of his classmates Jack.

Keine notices Gray shaking and looking left and right as if something was watching him, she knew about what happened to them, and wanted to at least make him feel comfortable.

"Dont worry, no youkai will attack you if Im here"

"huh.. you must be really strong then"

Gray had never seen any of them fight youkai, he remembers catching a glimpse of what Reimu did to repel the youkai that was about to devour him last night but that was all he could remember, after seeing just what a little youkai could do, he wouldn't be surprised if he knew Keine could do something more amazing.

"Not really, but I am strong enough to protect the village" she said modestly, letting out a calm smile as she adds to her sentence "There are many youkai hunters and incidents resolvers who will go to great lengths to protect the village".

"incident resolvers?"

"incidents are events where in the balance or stability of Gensokyo is threaten one such disaster was during the Red mist incident when the a vampire plotted to cover the skies with a red mist, that is where the incident resolvers come in they are the ones who bring balance in Gensokyo whenever somebody or something threatens its stability, the best of them would be Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame."

Incident resolvers would then be what Gray would call heroes then; he was excited at the fact of being able to meet heroes in real life, those that would protect the weak while battling monsters and all sorts of creature.

"really? Cool! Are you one of them?" Gray asks intently

"no, I protect the village as its guardian if an imminent threat comes up i can at least the entire village until the threat is gone—" as Keine was about to explain her powers as the protector of the village, she noticed that they are already in front of the stairway leading to the Hakurei shrine.

"—ah so we're here already, better get moving then Cutter san"

"a—ah yeah thank you"

"Yes, goodbye for now"

The two bow to each other as they say they part ways, as Keine travels back to the village, Gray looks back seeing her off on her way as she disappears into the thick mist.

"heh i remember running for dear life up these stairs" Gray can still remember the feeling he felt when he ran up these stair to escape that giant youkai that was about to eat him, this time he gets to climb up all the way and walk right up to the shrine

"Hello?, Reimu are you there?"

There was no answer *maybe she is sleeping* Gray thought, he can't go back now just because she is sleeping he needed her help and she is the only one who can get him back to the real world.

The Hakurei shrine in the night looks eerily creepy, unlike the places he has been to in the real world, there is at least a lamp post to shine some light on a building, but the shrine did not, the place looked like from a horror movie, the Hakurei shrine did not look like a grand building from the start, unlike the grand cathedrals, churches or other places of worship that were made from stone, the shrine had signs of being old with wear and tear it's a wonder how it is still maintained by its only occupant the shrine maiden Reimu.

"hmm, does anyone ever donate to the shrine?" taking a peak at the large donation box situated in front of the shrine, the box is supposedly for donations to the shrine but there is barely anything inside, except for a few coins, looking beyond the large box a large he sees a large wooden door but thinking that's not where Reimu could be sleeping.

"I don't remember seeing this part of the shrine when i woke up, maybe she is somewhere at the back of the shrine"

There was nothing for him at the front of the shrine, he needed to find Reimu to be able to bring the medical supplies back to his friends in the real world, walking past the right side of the shrine, a storage warehouse was situated near the shrine.

Making his way to the back of the shrine he managed to find familiar sliding doors that he remembered from this morning when he woke up, the back of the shrine looks like a pretty nice place to sit back and look at the sky or the groves, but at night a rather creepy chill kept bothering him, even with the constant feeling of being watched Gray could only try and fight back his fears and keep moving.

"huh, it took you guys long enough to come here" a familiar voice spoke to Gray as he was about to look back and check to see if Reimu was inside "so where are your friends? The faster we do this the better" talking in irritated tone, cranky from having Gray wake her up in the middle of her sleep, she wanted to return them back to their world as soon as possible.

"they are not with me yet-"

"-what?"

Reimu was clearly mad, she had expected them to try and leave Gensokyo after their unfortunate encounter with the youkai who reside in it, but hearing Gray tell her that they are not with him made her snap, Gray tries to explain the situation hoping she will understand.

"please, I need to get these supplies to my friends back in the real world, Anna and the others are still looking for one of our friends who split up from the group, Im sure they will come here to get back home when they find him."

Reimu furrows her brow as Gray explained the situation to her, but seeing the bag with medical supplies Gray carried with him she agreed

"...alright" Reimu said as she grabbed hold of Gray's arm not wanting to waste anymore time she skipped right to the point and prepares to fly.

"Hold on!"

"Hold wha- ahhh!"

Gray let out a panic as Reimu stomps the ground and flies up into the sky holding Gray's arm as they fly towards the cave where Gray and his friends came from.

"g-!"

The whole experience was far different from flying on the broom with Marisa and Anna, Gray could feel the air pushing him back trying to stop him from flying the direction they are headed, Gray struggles against the cold heartless winds pushing him, it's like riding a bike down a steep hill only this time he has no control over it.

"just try to slant your body towards the direction we are heading and try not to look down" Reimu said noticing that this is Gray's first time to ever fly.

What? - Gray could barely hear her the wind howling near his ears deafens him as he can only see Reimu's mouth flapping trying to tell him something, he could only nod his head then close his eyes and hold on to Reimu's arm as tight as he could hoping he will reach the cave soon.

Just then moments later Gray could feel Reimu's speed slow down as Gray opens his eyes to see a cave near the outskirts of the forest below them.

"We are here, you can open your eyes now" Reimu says as she hovers down below near the cave a few meters away from the forest

The place was like a nightmare relived for Gray, he could still remember him and his friends walking down the path down in the forest trying to make it to the smoke leading to the human village.

"Gray-san come on, the cave is this way"

"a-ahh, yeah coming"

Gray watched as he see's Reimu twirl her gohei, the purification rod she held in her hand as an orb with a yin and yang symbol forms out of thin air and hovers beside her, glowing with a bright light that lights the way inside the cave as she moves forward with Gray.

Traversing deep inside the dark cave they look for the portal that Reimu found which leads Gray back to the real world, but as they kept moving forward they found themselves stuck in their tracks as they see three ways into the cave ahead of them.

"..."

"umm i thought you knew where to g—"

"—i know where to go!...Im just a little tired" Reimu exclaimed her flustered face gave away the fact she is also lost having forgotten where the portal was located, she had already gone inside and found the portal but she didn't pay attention to the other two diverging paths inside the cave

"Let's just rest here for awhile until I rememb- rested enough"

"...alright i guess" Gray sighed while Reimu sits down rubbing her chin with her fingers trying to remember which way was the portal located.

Reimu then created three yin yang orbs sent them to light the three paths if one of them leads to the portal, in the mean time she just sat there thinking.

The yin yang lay on the ground and lit the place like a bonfire, Gray had nothing to do except sit down and wait for Reimu to lead him out, but there were things he wanted to know from her.

"Reimu, can i ask you something?"

"Eh? Sure, about what?"

"If youkai are rampant throughout Gensokyo, why won't you do anything about it?"

Reimu sighed as Gray asked the question, the villagers probably asked her about this then – Gray thought, but Reimu gave her answer shortly after

"Gensokyo is fine the way it is, despite what happened to you and your friends Gensokyo is peaceful, and many of the youkai are friendly.

friendly? is this what a shrine maiden should say? isn't exterminating youkai her job? so why is she saying this? Gray couldn't understand why Reimu would think of youkai as a good thing, Gensokyo would have been better off without them Gray thought.

"Gensokyo already has a set of rules that enforces its balance, youkai won't go after people from the human village unless a villager wanders away alone, one of the rules is the *spell card rule* in that rule everyone has an equal chance of fighting, as long as you have a spell card youkai must follow the rules and duel you if they win they may not eat you, if they lose they will acknowledge it, in this way Gensokyo can remain steady and peaceful."

"but.." even as Gray tried to interrupt her to ask something about the youkai he met awhile ago in the village, Yukari Reimu continued with her explanation.

"unfortunately, I cannot assure the safety of outsiders, some youkai know of a way to bypass the Hakurei border just like how you and your friends got here, if an outsider were to encounter any of the youkai in Gensokyo there is a high chance the outsider would be eaten."

It didn't matter then, the rules were made to protect people from the village, unless the outsider had powers or a spell card the outsider will no doubt be killed and eaten.

Maybe that was why the villagers let them stay in that big house and treated them as though they were hotel guest, they are probably thinking the outsiders would either leave Gensokyo or be eaten - Gray thought but as he was about to add something to say Reimu still continued

"That's why you and your friends must get back to your world"

Unknown to Reimu the chances of them surviving back in the real world are pretty slim given that they are stranded somewhere in the unknown parts of their country, if they hadn't found their way into Gensokyo they wouldn't be able to find food and shelter as well as medicine and bandages for their wounds.

"Can't we stay here? Maybe if you help us find a way to get some powers to defend ourselves then staying wouldn't be a problem."

"No, you and your friends should just go home; if you all get powers what do you think will you and your friends do with them? You think your friends will just accept having powers and do nothing with it?" Reimu spoke anger can be felt with every word she said.

Were there other outsiders before them? Chances are there were, if so, did they also gain powers and what did they do with them?, Reimu's anger was clearly showing, the outsiders before him and his friends probably did something that caused lots of pain to her and to the humans and youkai in Gensokyo.

Reimu is right, there is no reason for us to stay, maybe the driver came back with help and with the supplies Layla gathered we could probably last a week inside the cave until help arrives – Gray thought as he nods and agrees to what Reimu said

"you are right, this place is not for us i guess"

"hmm? I expected you to whine or at least look for a reason to stay"

Gray did not want to stay, even if the place was full of girls with powers the place is too dangerous for him, besides he still has a life in the real world heck they all do as a student there are still things they can do and he did not want to leave his parents without saying a word.

"It's tempting, but after all we've been through I think staying in our world is better hehe."

Reimu smiled as Gray said that, believing he has made the right choice.

"hmm? I think it's this way" Reimu said as she felt a sudden wave of energy coming from one of the passageways.

"..!?, stay here!" She said stopping Gray from getting up, that wave of energy, she had never felt it before when she went inside the cave this morning.

She went to the right most passageway, exploring deep inside the passageway she could feel the wave of energy getting stronger and stronger, the feeling was intense as if trying to bear the burden of several negative emotions, in time she found the portal leading back to the real world.

"Something is not right." Reimu mutters as she sensed something coming from the portal, she walked closer trying to get a closer inspection of the portal.

"!"

Coming out from the portal several figures came out running towards Reimu, the figures had rotting flesh, sewn together by black liquid, the eyes are either hanging out from their sockets or completely removed.

"what the aaaaa!" Reimu screamed as she ran from the zombie like monsters chasing her.

Back in the crossroad inside the cave Gray sat there near the yin yang orb glowing like a bonfire waiting for Reimu, he was slowly dozing off about to fall asleep until he heard someone yelling from the passageway Reimu entered.

"Runrunrunrunrunrunrun!" He hears a faint sound coming from the passageway but he could not make out what it means.

Just as Gray was wondering where the sound was coming from, Reimu came out from one of the passageways running and screaming.

"MOTHEROFHAKUREI RUN!" She didn't even bother to look at Gray she was just running as fast as she could away from the monsters.

"what's that about?" Gray muttered to himself what's gotten into Reimu she seemed okay awhile ago, but as he wondered what was Reimu doing, he could hear moans and screeches coming from the passageway she came out from

"Whaaaaa!?" Gray saw the zombie like creatures charging towards him from the cave.

"ahh!, ouch!" backing away as Gray was about to turn around and run away he tripped and fell to the ground.

Like a hopeless victim in a zombie movie Gray just closed his eyes as he prepares for his imminent death from the zombie like creatures.

"SEALING NEEDLES!"

The voice calls out of nowhere as flashes of light move towards the creatures striking the creatures at the head, the creatures fell down one by one the needles embedded in their skull or where their heads are supposed to be.

"Huh?" Gray said slowly opening his eyes; he was expecting a cruel death being eaten away piece by piece by the monsters.

"Well that takes care of them" Gray looks back as he heard a voice from behind him, it was Reimu he really thought Reimu ran away the same way he did to his friends last night.

"hehe sorry about that, they spooked me" Reimu apologizes lowering her head to Gray, The monsters just came out from the portal and came running towards her, looking at the monsters coming towards her at such a pace caught her off guard and spooked her so much that she just opted to run away.

"!?" Gray was at a lost for words, looking at the zombie like creatures covered in a black goo like ink that slowly dissolved revealing the bodies that were possessed like a puppet.

"Micheal?, Lisa?, Russel?"

The bodies were like patches of meat stitched together by the black goo, looking closer he recognize their faces, deformed, bloody, eyes missing or hanging from their sockets.

Gray couldn't say anything, what happened to them? He wondered as he tightly grasps the torn uniform that belonged to them.

The pieces of meat stitched together that were chasing Reimu were his friends, the other who stayed behind in the cave because of their injuries, they were dead, Gray could barely tell who is which except for Lisa as the faces were torn beyond comprehension.

Gray breathed heavily, as Reimu watches from behind, unable to bear the site any longer Reimu placed her hand on Gray's shoulder.

"..I'm sorry.."

Reimu could only offer a few words, she knew it was not enough to comfort him but it was the only thing she could think of, for the moment.

The bodies begin to dissolve, skin and bone evaporate into the air as the black goo that piece them together disappear.

"Gray.. Let's go"

"What about the portal?"

"There might be more coming from it, so to prevent them from coming here I must close it."

She went inside the passageway once more and seals the portal using her using an amulet.

With that there is no way for Gray and his friends to return to their world unless she can find the right ritual that will send them back to the cave in the real world.

After the sealing the portal Gray and Reimu walk back out of the cave, Gray notices Reimu being silent probably because she has no choice but to let them the outsiders stay in Gensokyo and risk the chance of the outsiders causing harm and threatening the balance of Gensokyo.

"..I'm sorry..."

Gray's voice was dry and coarse, he apologized to Reimu because now he and his friends have no choice but to stay in Gensokyo, he didn't want Reimu to be mad at him.

"it's ok, there's no choice in the matter" Reimu sighed as she said those words, there is still a way to send Gray and his friends back to their world, but that would be a cruel thing to do still, even if they were to cross the Hakurei border and into the real world they would be stranded in an unfamiliar place still.

Gensokyo is from Japan, so if ever a person would cross the border from Gensokyo they would no doubt be in Japan, unless the outsider knew how to read and speak Japanese they would just be stranded on another nation.

"Don't worry, my friends are good people, they won't cause trouble"

"Hmph we'll see" Reimu scoffed at what Gray said, she wanted to believe what Gray said was true but from her experience, the chances are slim.

Making their way out of the cave, the two notice something was glowing from over the horizon.

"How long were we inside that cave?" Gray asked thinking that the sun was probably coming up

"..."

But Reimu had something else in her mind, the sun would have risen from the east, the glow was coming from the west, as she locks her gaze she saw a several large clumps of smoke rising from it, Reimu knew what was beyond the forest, it was the human village, and it was burning.


End file.
